CS and IT THESIS GUIDELINES

OUTLINE OF THE FINAL THESIS DOCUMENT

(Title Page)

Abstract

Acknowledgement

Adviser’s Recommendation Sheet

Panel’s Approval Sheet

Thesis Coordinator and Dean’s Approval Sheet

Table of Contents

List of Tables

List of Figures

List of Appendices

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
This should contain a discussion on the general problem to be addressed by the thesis
work.

1.2 Overview of the Current State of the Technology

This should contain the current solutions being implemented and the problems with each
of these. The discussion could either be chronological or logical order. This should include
only enough detail to show the specific improvements introduced by each. This should
lead to the specific problem that the proponents intend to address. The information
regarding the technology or field should be contemporary and not based on outdated
sources

1.3 Statement of the Problem

1.3.1 General Problem
This could be either in question form or as declarative statement.
1.3.2 Specific Problem
This attempt to focus on a stated goal gives direction to the research process. It
must be limited enough in scope to make a definite conclusion possible.

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1.4 Objective of the Study

1.4.1 General Objectives
This should contain a single paragraph describing the general objective of the
thesis project.
1.4.2 Specific Objectives
This should contain a list of specific work that the proponents expect to address
to arrive at the accomplishment of the general objective.

Objectives are statements of WHAT the project is expected to accomplish. Each objective
should be stated to describe what is to be done. Since objectives are associated with
action, they usually start with action verbs.
Stating project objectives:
The study aims to…
develop conduct assess design implement
enhance produce train strengthen acquire
improve evaluate

A satisfactory objective should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable, Realistic,

and Time-bounded. It should be stated to include the following information:
a) an action verb;
b) the outcome to be accomplished;
c) the time-frame the outcome is to be accomplished; and
d) the criteria or conditions from measuring the accomplishment.

Few objectives should be considered in proposal and they should be arranged

in their order of importance. It is more likely that few objectives can be successfully
accomplished given the available resources.
Objectives must always relate to the expected outcomes or project outputs.
Moreover, objectives determine the methodology – how each objective is to be
accomplished.
Objectives are normally classified as general and specific. General objectives
states what the research or project are trying to accomplish. Specific objectives are
statements that try to achieve the general objective.

Example:
1. System Development – Inventory System

General Objective

The project aims to improve the current inventory system of XYZ

Company by reducing 80% of time needed between the project request
and goods delivery before the end of the fiscal year.

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Specific Objectives

Specifically, this study aims to:

 Improve the procedures for verifying invoices and shipments;
 Add an inventory control function to hold frequently used parts;
 Integrate the Goods Receive System (GRS) and the Project Ordering System
(POS) to reduce the manual effort needed to maintain information flows
between these two computer systems.
Analysis of the Objectives:
Justification
Specific? Yes! Because the objectives state particular, precise and definite details
about the project.
Measurable? Yes! Because the objectives state weighable (80%) indicator to measure the
success of the project
Attainable? Yes! Because the procedures, function and integration of GRS and POS is
feasible and within reach
Realistic? Yes! Because the objective states practical and viable methodology
Time-Bounding? Yes! Because the objective states the time when the system will be
accomplished
1.5 Scope and Limitation of the Study
This should contain the basic assumptions within which the thesis should work
the solution to the problem. Consequently, this should also contain the extent of the
prototype to be developed and the means by which the proposed system is to be
evaluated on its capability of solving the problem.

The limitations are those conditions beyond the control of the proponents that
may place restrictions on the conclusions of the study and their application to other
situations.

1.6 Methodology of the Study

Identifies the formal method that the proponents intend to follow in order to
accomplish what have been set in the objectives. The formal methodologies are any of
the software engineering and system analysis and design methodologies:

1. Waterfall model or Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) model

 System Engineering and Analysis
 Software requirements Analysis
 Design
 Coding
 Testing
 Maintenance
2. Prototyping
 Requirements gathering and refinement
 Quick Design

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 Building Prototype
 Customer Evaluation of Prototype
 Refining Prototype
 Engineer Product
3. The Spiral Model
 Planning
 Risk Analysis
 Engineering
 Customer Evaluation
4. 4th Generation Techniques
 Requirements Gathering
 Design Strategy
 Implementation using 4GL
 Testing
5. Rapid Application Development (RAD)
 Requirements Planning
 User Design
 Construction
 Cutover
6. Joint Application Development (JAD)

1.7 Significance of the Study

 A discussion on who benefits from the output of the research or project.
 Discuss the contributions/benefits of the study to:
1. Individuals
2. Corporations
3. Country
4. World or humanity in general
 Enumerates the problems that may be solved by the output of the study.
The resources allocated for the proposed research (human, financial and
material) should be justified in terms of the expected utility/significance of the
results for the following concerns:

1. Nationhood and Development

 Will the research produce new technology?
 Does research address current social, economical, political and
cultural problems?
 Will innovations in natural, infra and human rescue management
result from the study?
2. Scientific or Artistic Domain
 Will the research contribute new information?
 Are data gaps to be filled?
 Is a new point of view to be applied to a previously studied
phenomenon?

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3. University Thrust
 Will it contribute to expansion of knowledge?
 Will it develop strong scientific base for national mastery?
 Will it develop strategies to address present socio-economic?
4. Specific User/Beneficiaries
 Will it benefit specific users?
 How will it benefit these users?

2. Review of Related Studies and Literature

Should contain thirty (30) related studies both foreign and local research, and thirty (30) related
literatures both foreign and local research.

A. General Literature Survey – resources according to your major or area of study

B. Abstracts/Compiled Abstracts – crude sources of materials
C. Bibliographical references – bibliographies of bibliographies
D. Directories and Periodical guides
E. Trade literature
 National Journals – research and development trend in the country
 Information Journals – research and development at international level
F. Go to Industry/Research Institutes/Government Agency/Private Corp. –
interview/visit site and inquire the following:
 Inquire on their past projects, recommendations, future works that need to
be done, problems encountered, limitations and coverage of works
 Inquire about present projects (if possible)
 See their facilities, library, and laboratory
 Try to interview their staff and personnel
G. Evaluation of Existing System/ Software
Literature or background of the study will:

 Reveal investigations similar to your study, how other researchers approach

the problem
 Suggest method or technique of dealing with problems…suggest approach
and strategies
 Reveal sources of data
 Reveal significant research personalities
 See your study in historical/associative perspective
 Provide new ideas and new approaches
 Assist you in evaluating your own research effort
 Provide information on what is current in terms of similar technologies or
solutions to a particular problem domain

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3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This should give the theoretical background that leads to the design of the proposed
system. This may be broken into different sections for the logical grouping of the topics.
This should give the relation of the chapter to the proposed solution, as well as the
interrelation between the different sections of the chapter

3.1. <Theory 1>

3.2. <Theory 2>
.
.
3.n+1 Summary

4. <NAME OF THE PROJECT>

4.1 Introduction
This should introduce how the propose system solves the problem cited in “Statement
of the Problem”. This should also give the interrelation between the different sections
of the chapter.

4.2 System Design Specification

This should contain an explanation of how the system is put together. This chapter may
have several sections and subsections. This section may start by giving an overview of
the overall specifications and functional requirements of the system. It shall discuss the
functionalities and detailed description of the different components of the system.
Hardware and software components, as well as their interactions, may be discussed
graphically using design tools such as hierarchical chart, data flow diagram (DFD), entity
relationship diagrams (ERD), and explained here on a per block basis, including the
interrelation of each. The next section/s should describe the inner working of each
block/module in detail. Emphasis should be given on how the proposal attempts to solve
the specified problem.

4.n Summary

5. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
This chapter provides a list of experiments conducted by the group, as well as the
discussion of the results and observation done on the system. In this section, the
proponents must prove that the objectives of the thesis project have been achieved.

5.1 Introduction
This should give the major objectives of the experiment conducted. (The miner/specific
objectives of each experiment should be included in the “Experimental” section). There
should be a description of the parameters to be measured. All assumptions made in the
analysis should be explained in detail.

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5.2 Experimental
This section should describe the experiments conducted in analyzing the
behavior/performance of the approved system. This should include how the required
parameters were quantified, i.e., what measurable parameters were used to give an
indication of the desired parameters if these are not directly measurable. This should also
include the basis for such assumptions. The information given should be enough that the
reader can repeat the experiments for evaluation and verification.

5.3 Results and Analysis

This should give an overview of the results from the experiments. Sample raw data shall
be included to explain how these are presented and analyzed. The full set of data shall
be included as an appendix. This shall also contain a discussion of the information derived
from the results, with sample raw data to support each conclusion.

5.4 Summary

6. CONCLUSION
The conclusion shall be a one-section chapter. This contains a summary of the problem, the
approved system, the major results of the performance analysis, and the recommendation for
future work/s.

APPENDICES
These should contain the raw data, program listing, and the technical and user’s manuals. The
program listing must be unformatted and in a fixed width font (e.g. Courier). The Technical manual for
the hardware system shall include the list of parts/components used the detailed schematic diagram/s
(possibly by circuit block/section) and circuit board layout/s (if available). The technical manual of the
software shall contain a description of the main program structure. This should also include a short
description of each user-defined functions/procedures that contain what each does, what parameters are
passed, how the parameters are used, which routines call them, and which routines they call. The user’s
manual should contain detailed procedures on how set-up and use the system. Also, appendices also
contain all the sample forms and report gathered certifications, and transcript of interview.

PERSONAL VITAE
For each proponent: (provide 2”x2” picture on the upper right side of your personal vitae)

<Last Name>, <First Name> <Middle Initial> Dela Cruz, Juan F.

<Address1> 269 San Marcelino St.
<Address2> Golden Subd., Tambo
<Address3> Pasay City 1300
<Tel No.> 833-1234
< cellular phone no.> 0918-87111622
<e-mail address> jdc@skyinet.net

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
This sections deals with the nature of reference materials (e.g. Books, Unpublished Materials,
Journals and Periodicals, etc.) if one wishes to read further in the area of problem or corollary areas. It
also speaks of the researcher’s awareness of the literature in his fields and his critical resources. Citations,
as they appear within the text, should be coded to reflect the first four characters of the principal author’s
last name suffixed by the year of publication.

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Physical Format:

1. All Project Documentation should adhere to the following standards:

a. Margins

Top
Left Right Bottom
1.5” 1.0” 1.0” 1.0”

b. Font
Font Size Font Style
1. Text Times New 12 Regular
Roman or  use Italics or single underline
equivalent in emphasizing some text
2. Heading or Times New 12 Bold
Sub-Heading Roman or
equivalent

c. Spacing
- Double Space

d. Footer

<Project Name> <Page #>

Line Black, 1 pt.
Text Times New Roman or equivalent, size
12, Regular

e. Pages
- The page notation to be used is: <chapter/appendix letter> - <page number>.
Thus the first page for Chapter 2 is 2-1, while the first page of the Appendix is
at A-1.
- There should be no page number for items before Chapter 1.

f. Sub-heading and Text

All text and sub-headings should be in the following format as shown by an example
below:

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2.0 REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES

2.1 Foreign Literature

Computer-Assisted Instruction

Plato (1993) on his definition of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) refers to the

use of computers to present drills, practice exercises, and tutorial sequences of the

student.

According to Lucas (2008) one extensive type of CAI system is the PLATO. It was

developed by a group of engineers and educators in the Computer-based Education

Laboratory at the University of Illinois, Urbane.

2. Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
(In bold characters, font size 14)

1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study 1-1
1.2 Statement of the Study 1-2
1.3 Statement of the Objectives 1-3
1.3.1 General Objectives 1-3
1.3.2 Specific Objectives 1-3

3. List of Table
LIST OF TABLES
(in bold characters, font size 14)

Table<chapter#>-<table#> <Table Caption> <page>

Examples:
Table 1-2 Percentage Ratio of Sophomore vs. Seniors 1-6
Table 3-4 Morality Rate of Thesis2 vs. School Year 3-7

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4. List of Figures

LIST OF FIGURES
(In bold characters, font size 14)

Figure<chapter#>-<figure#> <Figure Caption> <page>

Examples:
Figure 2-2 Systems Development Life Cycle 2-16
Figure 4-1 Data Flow Diagram 4-12

5. List of Appendices

APPENDICES
(In bold characters, font size 14)

Appendix <Appendix letter>. <Appendix Caption>

Examples:

Appendix A. Project Schedule and Work Assignment

Appendix B. Certifications

Appendix C. Transcript of Interview

Appendix D. Survey Forms/ Questionnaires

Appendix E. Sample Forms and Reports

Appendix F. Screen Design

Appendix G. User’s Manual

Appendix H. Program Listing

Appendix I. Others

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Format for Citation and Bibliography

Proper citation should be observed to give credits to the work of an individual. Below will be the standard
format for the following references:

1. BOOK

<author’s name> (<year of publication>), <Book Title>, <complete name of publisher>

Example:
Bell, Douglas (2002), Software Engineering A Programming Approach 3rd Edition, Pearson Education Asia
Pte Ltd.
2. ARTICLE/PUBLICATION

<author’s name>, <”Article Title”>, <complete name of publisher>, <date published>.

Examples:

Feliciano, Joaquin, “The Role of the Web in Library System”, Manila Bulletin, June 5, 2005.

Lamis, Joseph, “The Next Generation of Library Automation”, The LibraryWorld, August 2005.

3. INTERNET

<author’s name> (<year published>), <Title>, <URL site>

Example:

Moskowitz, R. (1995), Using Your Computer for Inventory Control, http://knowledgetree.com/computer-

articles/inventory-control.htm

4. THESIS / CASE STUDY/ PROJECT PAPER/DEVELOPED PROJECT

<author’s name> (<year of publication>), <”Topic”>, <Title of Thesis/Case Study/Project

Paper/Developed Project>

Examples:

Dzurinko, Mary K. (2003), “Integrated Library System” ILSR Integrated Library System Report Paper.

Angeles, Chito N. (2008), “UP Integrated Library System” Library Gongzales Hall, Data Center UP Diliman,

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